One of the most respected of contemporary Benedictine spiritual writers is Mary Margaret (Meg) Funk, OSB. Her books include Thoughts Matter: The Practice of the Spiritual Life and Tools Matter for Practicing the Spiritual Life. She writes not only about Benedictine spirituality and contemplative practice, but also about interreligious dialogue, a pursuit she has been deeply involved in for some time now. I’ve just learned of her blog, which looks to contain all sorts of interesting entries. Here’s an excerpt from a recent posting that I suspect most readers of my blog will particularly enjoy:

We are all called to Contemplation, resting in God. There are many paths in this journey. This path very specifically taught by the Unknown author of the Cloud of Unknowing is for those attracted to the mystery and not inclined to go through images of Jesus, or Mary or through the life of Jesus Christ as devotion. The attraction is Christ centered, but beyond the images and stories. The Unknown author speaks for those who want the apophatic path (imageless) of us when He says, “ God is a jealous lover we must fix our love on him. Close the doors and windows on imagination because God is beyond our thoughts, concepts and images.” The teaching of the method is helpful and easy to understand, but hard to do: Practice: lift up your heart to the Lord, with a gentle stirring of love, desire Him for his own sake, not for gifts. We must Center all our attention and desire on Him.

Read the full post here: Emptiness Practice

Or, just visit her home page here: Meg Funk

But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

— St. Paul (I Corinthians, 6:17, NRSV)

This little bit of animated speculation by Mark Fiore pretty much says it all…

What if…

My first book, Spirituality, is being reprinted this year, with a new introduction, a new subtitle, and a new look. Here’s a sneak preview of the cover, featuring a photograph by my wife.

Last night I was reading through the New American Standard version of the Psalms, and discovered these verses, all of which suggest a spirituality of contemplation and silent resting/waiting for God:

Tremble, and do not sin;
Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

— Psalm 4:4

Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.

— Psalm 37:7

My soul, wait in silence for God only,
For my hope is from Him.

— Psalm 62:5

There will be silence before You, and praise in Zion, O God,
And to You the vow will be performed.

— Psalm 65:1

Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.

— Psalm 131:2

Here’s a cool new link that Google Alerts alerted me to:

An Tairseach - Dominican Farm and Ecology Centre

The Dominican Sisters established the Dominican Farm and Ecology Centre in 1998 on their 70-acres of land in Wicklow. It is an organic/biodynamic farm and Centre for Ecology and Spirituality

An Tairseach, is the Irish word for threshold and it suggests a new beginning, an alternative and more sustainable way of working with the land as well as a renewed relationship with the whole community of life, human and non-human.

Even their domain name is cool: www.ecocentrewicklow.ie.

An Tairseach is located only about 10 miles or so from Glendalough and maybe 40 miles or so from Kildare. In other words, if you’re interested in ancient Celtic Christian history, it’s only a short hop from those venerable sites to this place where it appears that the Celtic Christian tradition is alive and well today.

Thanks to Peter for alerting me to a fascinating review of a new book called Mystics by William Harmless. Harmless examines a variety of both Christian and non-Christian mystics and interpreters of mysticism, and draws the conclusion that mysticism is so fundamentally embedded in its cultural and religious/theological context that the modern/romanticist notion that suggests “all mysticism is the same” is called into question. I have long felt that it is a mistake to see mysticism as reducible to a single, unified experience: there are many “mysticisms” even within Christianity, let alone within all faiths. I think the romantic insistence that all mysticism is the same really emerges from a laudable, if misguided, effort to assert unity across all cultures. It’s a way of stumping for religious tolerance. Now, I believe in religious tolerance because I think it is a good thing, regardless of whether our divergent mysticisms share anything in common. And while I think there can certainly be commonalities amongs the great mystical and wisdom traditions, the profound diversity in mystical experience — and particularly in mystical theologies — is not something to be shunned or feared, but rather something to be embraced, even celebrated. It is only when we honestly acknowledge our differences that we are liberated to find and rejoice in our authentic unity. That goes for mysticism as much as anything else.

Click here to read the full review, Raids on the Ineffable.

These links were brought to my attention by the good spiders at Google Alerts…

The Jewish Roots of Eastern Christian Mysticism from Marquette University

Veni Creator Spiritus: A Monograph on the Theology of the Holy Spirit Until the Time of Tertullian and Origen by Michel Rene Barnes

The Trinity: A Muslim Perspective by Abdal-Hakim Murad, a lecture delivered at Oxford in 1996

A Blogger and a friend of his dialogue on the above article.

Special thanks to J.R.M. and Steven Wedgeworth, both of whose blogs appear to be most fascinating, for links to the über-cool stuff.

This essay by Julian Edney is a few years old, but I just found it today. And it’s well worth reading, especially if you share my concern that we live in an increasingly uncivil society.

Who Stole the Common Good? The Shadow of Ayn Rand

Here’s a juicy excerpt:

So, do you want to find out if your friends, coworkers or spouse understand the common good? Some do, some don’t. Try a simple game you can play called the Nuts Game — with things you find around the house.

Three people sit around a kitchen bowl. You, the fourth person, with a timer, start off placing ten small items in the bowl — quarters, dollar bills, or nuts. Tell the three players the goal is that each of them get as many items as possible. Tell them one other thing before they start: every ten seconds (you have your watch ready) you will look in the bowl and double the number of items remaining there by replenishing from an outside source (a separate pile of quarters on the side).

I used to run this game with college students. You would think the players would have figured out that if they had all waited, not taking anything out of the bowl for a while, the contents of the bowl would soon have grown very big, automatically doubling every ten seconds. Eventually they could each have divided up a pot that had grown large. But in fact, sixty percent of these groups never made it to the first 10-second replenishment cycle. Group members grabbed all they could as soon as they could, leaving nothing in the bowl to be doubled (destroying the common good), and each player wound up with none or a few items. I saw the bowl knocked to the floor in the greedy melee. And even if allowed to try again, not all groups cooperatively worked out a patient, conserve-as-you-go playing style, necessary for eventual big scores. They didn’t trust each other.

Read the full article here.

I have just learned of a wonderful website called LibriVox where volunteers are recording free MP3 audiobooks of texts in the public domain. Someone is currently recording Julian of Norwich (it’s a guy, alas; I hope a woman will record it at some point in the future) and two of Evelyn Underhill’s books are available in MP3 format as well: Mysticism and The Life of the Spirit and the Life of To-Day. I haven’t searched any further to see what other treasures are currently available (the Underhill texts will keep me busy for a while), but I suspect many gems can be found herein - and LibriVox is looking for volunteers to keep recording more public domain texts. What a wonderful way to disseminate mystical wisdom - and what a great, free alternative to buying books!